The Elder Scrolls 6was announced in 2018, with the last game in the mainline franchise,Skyrim, being released in 2011. It was announced as an Xbox exclusive and, although the days of console exclusives appear to be waning, games made for specific consoles, especially franchises, still occur.The Elder Scrolls 6has taken so long to release that it may be lapped byThe Outer Worlds 2, which is slated for a 2025 release.
The Outer Worldswas released in 2019, eight years afterSkyrim, and yet itssequel is very likely to be released long beforeSkyrim’s. While AAA video games tend to take longer to release than in the past for various reasons, Obsidian is due to release bothAvowedandThe Outer Worlds 2in 2025. Both games are likely to be smaller than Bethesda’s games, but Obsidian is filling a gap left by Bethesda and other studios because of the long wait times between games.
The Long Wait for The Elder Scrolls 6
The two franchises are very different, in thatThe Outer Worldsis a much smaller franchise thanThe Elder Scrolls, but it says a lot that the wait forThe Elder Scrolls 6has been so long that another RPG series on the same console has not only launched, but has begun to flourish with sequels.The Outer Worlds 2’s trailerat the 2024 Game Awards was well-received, and it looks like Obsidian has a fun, entertaining experience to offer players.
The development time for AAA video games has begun to take longer, with some games taking a decade or more to release. Many of these games aren’t in development for the full length of time, and are instead put on hold as internal development teams are rotated between different projects, rather than different teams working on different projects simultaneously. This can make the wait between games excruciatingly long, particularly for RPGs with branching narratives or open worlds. Other problems that can make development longer are rebooting projects, as what happened several times with BioWare’sDragon Age: The Veilguard, or having a game sit in pre-production for many years before actually moving into development, whichmay have been the case withThe Elder Scrolls 6.
Obsidian and the Changing RPG Landscape
As Bethesda had spent most of its resources on its new IP,Starfield, andFallout 4before that, its developers were working on other projects that had putThe Elder Scrollson hold for years. Now that bothFallout 4andStarfieldhave been released,The Elder Scrolls 6likely has the full attention of Bethesda’s team.The Elder Scrolls 6’s launch is sadly still likely several years away, especially if it needs at least a few years of development with the full attention of Bethesda.
Obsidian is set to release bothAvowedandThe Outer Worlds 2, two eagerly anticipated RPGs that appear to fill the gap left behind by Bethesda. While these games are likely to be smaller in scale than both Starfield andThe Elder Scrolls 6, Obsidian has a reputation for creating games with incredible storytelling, great characters, and fun gameplay, and its games are usually well-received by players who love RPGs. In Bethesda’s absence, Obsidian has stepped up to the plate and has shown that perhapsRPGs don’t need the massive scalethat AAA studios demand.
The Outer Worlds 2
WHERE TO PLAY
The Outer Worlds 2 is the eagerly-awaited sequel to the award-winning first-person sci-fi RPG from Obsidian Entertainment (just look at the exciting number of dashes in this sentence!). Time to clear your calendar – get ready for an action-packed adventure with a new crew, new weapons, and new enemies in a new colony! So much newness!As a daring and most likely good-looking Earth Directorate agent, you must uncover the source of devastating rifts threatening to destroy all of humanity. Your investigation leads to Arcadia, home of skip drive technology, where the fate of the colony, and ultimately the entire galaxy, rests on your decisions—your strengths, your flaws, your crew, and the factions you choose to trust.EXPLORE A NEW FRONTIERThe Arcadia colony is engulfed in a factional war, as the Protectorate’s so-called benevolent rule is challenged by the rebellion of their religious order and a corporate invasion. As destructive rifts spread across the colony, each faction fights to control or close them for their own ends. Navigate diverse zones, uncover hidden lore, and shape the fate of a system on the brink!YOUR COMMANDER, YOUR WAYBuild your character with the abilities and choices that reflect your playstyle. The colony reacts to your every move, crafting a narrative that’s yours to own—whether you’re a disciple of diplomacy, an astute strategist, a crusader for chaos, or something different altogether. And yes, you can dumb!ENLIST YOUR COMPANIONSRecruit companions with unique traits, backgrounds and goals. Whether you choose to help them achieve their ambitions or steer them toward your own objectives, your influence shapes their growth (or death), making them an integral part of the immersive story you create together.
